1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image processing apparatus that includes a printer section that prints an image on a recording medium such as paper, and a computer section that controls the printer section and produces an image data to be printed together with controls. The present invention particularly relates to an image processing apparatus capable of printing image data on a recording medium without borders.
2. Description of the Related Art
A conventional image processing apparatus is capable of producing a borderless print. A user selects a size of the recording medium and a borderless printing mode through a selection menus screen of a printer driver of a computer. Once the size of the recording medium and the borderless printing mode are selected, an application program produces an image data that fits to an image region of the paper. Then, the image data is expanded into a size larger than the paper size. The expanded image data is then outputted together with a print command that specifies “borderless printing.” The printer prints the expanded image on the paper, thereby performing the borderless printing.
For example, Japanese Patent (KOKAI) Publication No. 2002-244826 discloses a printing method in which image data for a page contains as small an amount of characters as can fill a predetermined number of lines, the image data for that page is added to the end of the immediately preceding page. Then the overall size of the preceding page is compressed into the normal size, and the image data for that page is sent to a printer.
However, for example, when a user wishes to perform borderless printing every time an image is printed, it is inconvenient for the user to select the borderless printing mode for each page of the image on the selection menu of a printer driver. Accordingly, a need exists in the art for an apparatus capable of performing borderless printing automatically if the image data has only a small margin and the user wishes to print the image data in a borderless printing mode.
A conventional image forming apparatus is not capable of determining whether image data produced with an application program has a print margin such that the image data can be printed in the borderless printing mode. Even if the image forming apparatus is capable of determining whether image data has a print margin such that the image data can be printed in a borderless printing mode, the image data may not have the same aspect ratio as the paper on which the image data is printed. Such a situation cannot be avoided. Because it cannot be determined from the image data as to whether borderless printing is possible, the user has to select borderless printing on the printer driver.